


Flexibility

by Halkyone



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Interspecies Relationship(s), Multi, canon temporary death, everyone is sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2013-08-25
Packaged: 2017-12-24 13:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/940488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halkyone/pseuds/Halkyone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Liara brushes Shepard off one time too many, Shepard turns to Garrus. Liara finds out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flexibility

Shepard knew Liara would find out, and she didn’t care.

  
The number of times she had raced across the station, taken the stairs at a run, only to find Liara distant, clearly running scenarios behind her eyes as she rattled out responses to Shepard’s tender queries, or worse, polite but firm, shutting Shepard out of her secrets, refusing to share the adventure or take comfort from her old lover.

  
The drive and focus that Liara had once brought to bear on Shepard’s goals were turned on revenge for this Feron, and Shepard hadn’t realised she could be jealous this way. From the moment they met Liara’s eyes had been on Shepard, fascinated, curious, and then attracted –Shepard had never seen her prioritise someone else, and the change stung.

  
The reunion had been achingly sweet, a rush of relief, but as Shepard had changed, wires and circuits threaded through every limb, Liara was more than the sweet archaeologist of Shepard’s homesick dreams, was consumed and transformed by her hunt for the Shadow Broker. Watching her rant and pace, unable to focus on any other topic, Shepard felt almost as abandoned as when she first woke.

  
Garrus was kind, Garrus didn’t try to probe too far, and if he made judgements he kept them to himself. He’d seen the birth and this floundering of Shepard’s relationship with Liara, and didn’t try to be more than a safe harbour. He would let Shepard be a soldier instead of a legend, a teammate more than a colleague. When he admired her it was as a resolute leader and fearless strategist, not the gentle bearer of History that was reflected in Liara’s eyes and terrified Shepard with its promise.  
That was unfair. Liara was a friend too, trusted her in extremis, called her on flippancy and mistakes. They had planned together, warm and close in the Captain’s cabin, just as Garrus helped spark ideas.

  
This latest idea, though…

 

 

Dr T’Soni yawned and rubbed her scalp crests, leaning back from her bank of screens. It was late but there was so much to do, always so much to do, new data, new orders, and she couldn’t afford to slip and let even one precious clue escape her.

  
A flicker on one screen; news from the Normandy. Liara smiled as she scrolled through the gossip and baseless speculation –she always enjoyed the wild stories about Subject Zero, though it was alarming how many appeared to actually be true; Agent Lawson had lost a few bugs; Gardner’s black market contact hadn’t been heard from in a while; and the usual speculation on the Commander’s sex life, surprisingly plausible this time- wait. This tidbit wasn’t from Matthews or even Chambers. Would _Dr Solus_ engage in petty gossip? Could this be a prank, to embarrass Shepard or Garrus? It was a well-researched prank, if so, the pamphlets received without any sharp response to put an end to the game, indeed with a terse thanks from the turian, and Liara’s heart thudded against her ribs. She blinked hard and spread her hands on her desk, perfectly steady. Shepard and Garrus? _Her_ Shepard and _Garrus Vakarian_? Well.

  
Liara gazed for a long time into the gathering shadows of her office, her eyes dry, and eventually a small, grim smile crept across her face. _I’ve done my mourning_. From the moment they met Liara had known she would one day lose Shepard, and then had done so and wept and searched the galaxy for a chance to bring her back, while older asari rolled their eyes, reminding her again and again her how fragile humans were as if she were an ignorant child, how she couldn’t expect to only ever lose friends when she was ready for it. So, this? Shepard was alive, and Garrus was kind, Garrus was trustworthy, Garrus knew what they had been through and she couldn’t begrudge either of them snatching a little comfort when they could.

  
In truth, Liara had seen the hurt in Shepard’s eyes when she’d visited lately at unlucky times, the echo of the crushed feeling that Shepard’s death had left in Liara, and had ignored it, ignored her. Shepard had had her turn being the centre of action, after all; Liara had responsibilities and underlings of her own now, and it had felt good to point that out, to show off that now she was more than an impressionable young thing ready to jump up at a moment's notice and follow a dashing starship captain in mad escapades wherever she may lead. Liara had schemes and intrigues of her own, and Shepard was not a key part of them. So that was where living their own lives had got them. Could turians even –never mind.

  
Shepard would be back, Liara knew. Their bond was not found often nor broken easily, and though they hurt each other they would not leave one another’s lives. Perhaps none of the team who saw the Reapers would ever be fully separated –no-one else would listen to them, for a start, and no matter how far they scattered the old crew tended to gravitate towards and run into each other. Liara thought of how it had felt to see Shepard again after those long two years, how Shepard had looked at her, and her smile grew wider and warmer. So we lose each other, so we run away but across all the stars we come back to each other. Let Shepard and Garrus let off some steam; Liara was more prepared for waiting than either of them, and Shepard would be back.


End file.
